Restaurant Review: Salotto Bar, Kingston

You’d be forgiven for asking yourself whether Canberra needs another Italian restaurant. In Australia, Italian food has become so distorted that carbonara is served drenched in cream and the bases for pizza seem to be thicker than my hand. Nothing like the paper thin, soupy pizzas they serve in Naples.

Italian food can either be amazing or pretty damn terrible, I rarely find something that’s in between.

And so we have Salotto Bar. Aiming to bring the streets of Italy to Kingston this Summer, the recently opened restaurant promises casual Italian dining, a no-fuss menu and good value prices. A place where people can enjoy time with their family and some good, traditional food.

Owned by the Catanzariti family (originally from Calabria), the original establishers of Santa Lucia Trattoria, you can be assured the food and experience will be authentic.

Salotto Bar has taken home in the old Kennedy Room space and features a large indoor dining space, a bar and ample outdoor dining. The decor is rustic and clean with a bright poster wall and wooden tables set with wine bottle candle holders.

The menu is designed to share with all the traditional favourites (pasta, pizza, lasagne) and a large selection of Italian grappas for those who want to finish their meal the traditional way. The wine list is decent but not overly extensive.

Menu highlights include the Saltinbocca ($26.50) – veal scallopini skewered with prosciutto and fresh sage pan seared and finished in a buttery wine sauce or the Ragu al Bolognese ($20) – three meat ragu (chicken,veal and pork) slowly braised in a san manzano tomato sauce.

The only gripe I have is that their carbonara lists cream as an ingredient. No carbonara should have cream in my opinion.

For lunch we ordered the meatballs to share for entree.

They were perfectly cooked and the sauce was rich, acidic and subtly sweet.

They have a really good value lunch special which includes a pizza or pasta, bread + house wine for $15.90. You can’t beat that for value.

It even includes the fettuccine with fresh Tasmanian black mussels, king prawns, vongole and squid which you can have in either in a robust tomato sauce or olive oil (normally $25).

This was the standout meal. Fettuccine cooked al dente tossed in a light garlic oil with really fresh seafood. It had a decent kick of chilli which I loved!

I always like to pick something uber traditional so also opted for Nonna’s lasagne ($22).

It was light and flavoursome – and thankfully not oozing with bechamel.

For desserts expect traditional favourites like tiramisu ($14) and more modern options like the nutella cronut ($14). We didn’t have room for much so I finished the meal with an affogatto ($7).

Overall Salotto was a casual, friendly and great value traditional italian lunch that won’t break the bank. I will definitely be back to try more on their menu!